DuPage County business leaders gathered on Wednesday, August 14th at CBRE for a roundtable discussion on sustainability in business. The discussion is part of an ongoing series hosted by The Hon. Deborah Conroy, DuPage County Board Chair, and Choose DuPage, designed to provide an opportunity for the business community to connect, learn, and discuss important topics affecting DuPage County.
Cassie Carroll, Marketing & Communications Director at the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC), led the discussion. SEDAC is an applied research program at the University of Illinois, which works to make it easier for businesses to go green.
Key Takeaways From the Discussion
There are opportunities for all businesses to practice sustainability. A great place to start is by looking at your resource-intensive processes, like finding ways to save energy or recycle more.
Engage your workforce—ask employees for ideas about how to be more sustainable and find ways to let them participate in the initiatives.
Be sure to take advantage of incentives such as the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program, Nicor Energy Efficiency Program, and the DuPage County C-PACE Program.
Sustainability adds to your competitive advantage in terms of your bottom line and recruiting top talent. Some contracts even require sustainability initiatives from vendors.
Sustainable practices can help reduce risk by increasing safety measures, protecting a company’s reputation, and reducing financial risk.
Did you know? Some of the ways you can practice sustainability:
Personal protection equipment (PPE) can often be recycled, including nitrile gloves and hair nets. TerraCycle is one resource for recycling PPE and other waste. Kimberly Clark also has a recycling program.
Use smart power strips with timers at computer stations. Through the Sustainable DuPage Green Business Assessment, it was discovered that one large corporation in DuPage County could save $17,000 annually in their energy costs by switching to smart power strips.
Provide incentives to employees to take alternative transportation to work. Christopher B. Burke Engineering’s Bike to Work program reimburses employees 75-cents for every mile they commute by bike. Since starting the program in 2006, staffers have cycled more than 325,000 miles, eliminating 625,000 pounds of CO2 that would have been emitted commuting by car.
Buy and sell from reuse markets like Rheaply, where you can find previously owned items including office furniture.
For incentives, information, and more resources for sustainable business practices, check out the Sustainable DuPage website.
Resources:
ComEd Energy Efficiency Program